1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of packing collected objects and also to a packing station for carrying out this method.
This invention is directed more particularly to the mail order industry in which miscellaneous articles having different shapes and volumes are collected and subsequently dispatched.
According to the specific orders received from each customer, the parcels or packages may comprise many different articles or objects and a variable number of them, so that any standardization of the packings is precluded.
This problem is particularly difficult to solve since according to the volume of the parcels to be sent off it will be necessary to dispatch them by a specific transport system, for example by mail, railway or truck. Transport costs are quite variable according to the transport system implemented and in most instances delivery by post seems to be the best answer for obvious economical reasons.
2. The Prior Art
Up to now, in the mail order industry packages consist mainly of cardboard boxes. Storemen select a box size consistent with the volume of the collected articles to be sent off. As a rule, the box has necessarily a size in excess of actual requirements since it is not possible to keep in store a complete range of box sizes suitable for all specific cases that may arise.
The empty spaces left in the box are filled up with lumps of polystyrene or puffed foam, or the like.
The necessity of selecting a box oversized in comparison with the actual volume of the articles leads sometimes to the use of an expensive transport system, whereas if it had been possible to pack the contents in a box of adequate dimensions a more economical transport system could have been used.
Various attempts have been made with a view to pack the articles to be shipped in a thermo-retractable plastic film. This packing adapts itself particlarly well to the objects to be sent off, irrespective of their shape and volume; however, the use of this type of packing is definitely precluded for sending fragile objects, notably on account not only of the pressure exerted on the object during the shrinking of the thermo-retractable plastic film but also of the heat to which the whole contents are subjected when removing the plastic film.
On the other hand, the use of a conventional plastic film packing proved to be unadvisable for certain objects such as suits, dresses, garments or other articles likely to be rumpled during the transport, so that these articles must preferably be packed in means having a certain rigidity so that the article enclosed therein can preserve a certain firmness and cannot be folded during the delivery.